Mars Had Large Oceans

Evidence has been produced in recent times that suggests life once existed on Mars, possibly billions of years ago. Planetary probes show us that the Red Planet may have had oceans and flowing water. The photo at the left is an image from Mars, sent back via the Mars rover which shows what is very similar to our ocean floor without water.

As scientists learn more and more about the surface of the Red Planet, the more similarities they are recognizing, doing away with the old-fashioned imaginings of Martian men with big heads with produding antenna, to considering the possiblity that life there could have been very much like life on Earth. If Mars was once a warmer, wetter planet, what caused the change? Is a human mission to Mars a worthwhile undertaking?

Mystery Solved
Dave Mosher SPACE.com Wed Jun 13, 1:45 PM ET
Since 1991, planetary scientists have floated the idea that Mars once harbored vast oceans that covered roughly one-third of the planet. Two long shore-like lips of rock in the planet's northern hemisphere were thought to be the best evidence, but experts argued that they were too "hilly" to describe the smooth edges of ancient oceans. Since 1991, planetary scientists have floated the idea that Mars once harbored vast oceans that covered roughly one-third of the planet. Two long shore-like lips of rock in the planet's northern hemisphere were thought to be the best evidence, but experts argued that they were too "hilly" to describe the smooth edges of ancient oceans.

The view just changed dramatically with a surprisingly simple breakthrough.

The once-flat shorelines were disfigured by a massive toppling over of the planet, scientists announced today. The warping of the Martian rock has hidden clear evidence of the oceans, which in any case have been gone for at least 2 billion years.

"This really confirms that there was an ocean on Mars," said Mark Richards, a planetary scientist at the University of California at Berkeley and co-author of the study, which is detailed in the June 14 issue of the journal Nature.

Twin shores

Two major shorelines exist on Mars, each thousands of miles long--one remaining from the older Arabia Ocean, and another from the younger Deuteronilus Ocean, said study co-author Taylor Perron of UC Berkeley.

"The Arabia would have contained two to three times the volume of water than in the ice that covers Antarctica," Perron told SPACE.com.

Somewhere along the way to toppling over 50 degrees to the north, Mars probably lost some of its water, leaving the Deuteronilus Ocean's shoreline exposed. "The volume of water was too large to simply evaporate into space, so we think there is still some subterranean reservoirs on Mars," Perron said.

The remaining sea would have been located in the same lowland plain as the Arabia Ocean, but almost 40 degrees to the north.

Unstable spin

As a planet spins, the heaviest things tend to shift towards the equator, where they are most stable. Earth, too, has a bulge at its equator. The volcanic Tharsis region of Mars, a vast raised area along Mars' equator, is evidence for how this works.

"This is the reason why this discovery packs extra punch," Perron said. More than a billion years ago, he explained, something happened in the way mass was distributed on Mars to cause the imbalanced portion to shift toward the equator-and allow the vast shores of the Martian oceans to warp.

"We found evidence of the path the shift would have to have occurred, and it matches with the deformation of the shorelines," Perron said.

Elastic surface

Near the equator, the surface of a planet stays in a relatively flattened bulge under the pressure of centripetal forces. But outside of the equator, the rock behaves elastically and often bunches up, like the surface of a deflating balloon. Perron and his team reasoned that the oceanic shorelines were once near the equator, but warped into hilly up-and-down elevations of rock as they move towards the north with the tilting planet.

"On planets like Mars and Earth that have an outer shell ... that behaves elastically, the solid surface will deform," Richards said.

By calculating the deformation, which occurs in a predictable way, the planetary research team found the ridges had to have once been flat, like ocean shorelines.

"This is a beautiful result that Taylor [Perron] got," Richards said. "The mere fact that you can explain a good fraction of the information about the shorelines with such a simple model is just amazing. It's something I never would have guessed at the outset."

Perron and his colleagues aren't certain what caused the toppling of the planet, but they think forces beneath the surface are to blame. "There could have been a massive change in the distribution of mantle," Perron said, "which would have caused the planet to shift into its current position."

• Images: Mars Waterworld Imagined
• Huge 'Ocean' Discovered Inside Earth
• Video: All Eyes on Mars

• 
  

Saturday cartoon

Good news - "That's a tough little girl, I tell you"

The little girl in the pink outfit pictured in this image is 5-year-old Hannah Klamecki, with her father Pastor Michael Klamecki and a little neighbor friend. Hannah was out on the Kankakee River with her grandfather, swimming, when something went wrong and the grandfather drowned and Hannah had to fend for herself in the murky waters of the Kankakee. Fortunately, Hannah had on arm floats that small children wear, and this kept her from the same fate as her grandfather.

LINK TO STORY AT YAHOO NEWS

It's a wonderful relief that Hannah was found alive, walking out from the woods with no more than a few scratches and bruises after two days gone missing. It was indeed a time to rejoice and be happy she is alive and well. Unfortunately, this isn't the case very often and children's dead and bloated bodies are pulled from the waters much to the terrible grief of the parents, loved ones and friends who loved them.

An excerpt from the news article contains typical reponses to situations when things turn out well.

Tricia Little, a close family friend of Hannah's parents, said David Klamecki taught the girl and her two younger sisters about the outdoors. She credits that instruction — and God — with Hannah's survival.

Hannah's father, Mike Klamecki, is senior pastor at New Hope Community Church in Villa Park. Little's husband, Brian, said parishioners have been "praying for his whole family."

"Obviously, we're giving all the glory to God on this one," Brian Little said.

My question is this: Who would have gotten credit if the story had not ended so happily? Who gets credit for the dead grandpa? Who gets credit for the little ones who are found brutally murdered after family and friends prayed their hearts out for them to be found?

Sheriff's Chief Deputy Ken McCabe said "That's a tough little girl, I tell you". This is why Hannah survived. She had arm floats on in order to keep from drowning. She must have been a decent swimmer for a five-year-old to be allowed to swim in a dangerous river. She was found in a reasonable amount of time where she was only a bit dehydrated, and tired. We don't even want to contemplate what would have happened if she hadn't been found in the short time she had been missing.

I read another story recently where people were reuinted with their kidnapped daughter and refreshingly they expressed extreme elation that their daughter was safe and together with them once more without giving credit to her "specialness" in the eyes of any supreme being. They gave thanks to the Sheriff's department and all those who did the work to find her. Lucky they found a live child . . . it's a relief when things turn out well.

However, for another teenager in the news recently, things ended horribly with the girl being found murdered. She was a gorgeous teenager who simply went shopping at a Target store, was shoved into a car by a man she didn't know, taken off to some secluded place and murdered. How do people think one life is more "special" than another. How do people rationalize that a god is picking and choosing which innocent and scared child to save from a horrible fate?

Tweedledee and Tweedledum

Fascinating

NASA - Huygens Probe Lands on Saturn's Moon, Titan

H/T to Jeff for pointing this out to me.

Bill Schorr

The debates and political campaigning thus far have been like watching Hanna Barbera cartoons.
This is going to be a very long year and a half.

Amaze your friends!

Thanks to my friend Chuck A for this one. Great party trick!

The Merope Reflection Nebula

Credit & Copyright: Jean-Charles Cuillandre (CFHT), Hawaiian Starlight, CFHT

Explanation: Reflection nebulas reflect light from a nearby star. Many small carbon grains in the nebula reflect the light. The blue color typical of reflection nebula is caused by blue light being more efficiently scattered by the carbon dust than red light. The brightness of the nebula is determined by the size and density of the reflecting grains, and by the color and brightness of the neighboring star(s). NGC 1435, pictured above, surrounds Merope (23 Tau), one of the brightest stars in the Pleiades (M45). The Pleiades nebulosity is caused by a chance encounter between an open cluster of stars and a molecular cloud.

Blue Lobster

Being different is a good thing.

This lobster is avoiding the cooker because of his uniqueness. "Researchers at the University of Connecticut found that the blue coloring occurs when lobsters produce an excessive amount of protein because of a genetic mutation."

NEW LONDON, Conn. - Call it crustacean discrimination. A lobster caught last weekend by Steve Hatch and his uncle Robert Green was spared from being cooked and ripped apart on a plate because of its color.

The 1 1/2-pound clawed creature is bright blue, the result of an extremely rare genetic mutation.

It turned up Sunday morning in one of Hatch and Green's lobster traps at the mouth of the Thames River.

"I've heard about them but this is the first one I've ever seen," Hatch told The Day of New London newspaper.

Later that afternoon, he put the lobster in a cooler and brought it to the Mystic Aquarium and Institute for Exploration, where it will live out its days in an elementary school classroom for children to learn about.

Catherine Ellis, curator of fish and invertebrates at the aquarium, said only one in 3 million lobsters are "true blue," meaning their color is the result of genetics and not the environment.

The one caught Sunday will join two other blue lobsters at the aquarium.

Researchers at the University of Connecticut found that the blue coloring occurs when lobsters produce an excessive amount of protein because of a genetic mutation.

But if blue lobsters are cooked like their red brethren, they too turn red, Ellis said.

Carl Sagan's Cosmos - Star Stuff

Carl Sagan's description of how we evolved from "Star Stuff" and are on our journey to go back to our origin - in the Stars. From "Cosmos: A Personal Voyage" episode 8, "Journeys in Space and Time".

Carl Sagan - Origins of the Universe Part I & II

Part I


Part II

Carl Sagan - speaks about 4 billion years of evolution

It is appalling that despite all of the centuries of scientific progress, and all of the verifiable evidence produced that such places as Creationist Museums are being built to perpetuate ignorance that threatens scientific knowledge, progress and reason. An understanding and acceptance of the facts of evolution does not threaten personal faith, and most Christians can reconcile evolution and religion together.

Light years ahead of Creationism

Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot

"Inspired by the words of Carl Sagan in 1991, as he presented to the world, the most distant image yet taken of ourselves.( from 4 billion miles )
What ever each of us believes in , this is something we all share, and through sharing ,we might some day learn humility." icecorescientist

The "Lemon Test".

Alton Lemon is an "honorary officer" of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, a position reserved for freethinkers who have won Supreme Court cases in favor of the separation of church and state. He received a "Hero of the First Amendment" award at the 2003 FFRF convention (although health problems at the last minute prevented him from accepting it in person). Alton Lemon won the case, Lemon v. Kurtzman, 1971, which successfully challenged a Pennsylvania law, the first such law in the nation providing public tax funds to religious schools for teaching four secular subjects. As a member of the ACLU, Mr. Lemon volunteered to challenge the law, which resulted in a decision that is a watershed for the Establishment Clause, and which historic decision bears his name. The United States Supreme Court unanimously invalidated the parochial aid. In one of the enduring legacies of the Burger Court, it also codified existing precedent on the Establishment Clause into a test--called the "Lemon Test." Despite attacks against it and attempts to modify and chip away at it, the Lemon Test endures.

“If any of the three prongs of the Lemon Test are violated by an act of government, it is unconstitutional:

1) It must have a secular legislative purpose;

2) Its principal or primary effect must neither advance nor inhibit religion;

3) It must not foster excessive entanglement between government and religion.”

-- The Lemon Test, promulgated in Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 US 602 (1971)

First Shuttle Mission/Shuttle Systems Test Flight - April 12, 1981

YouTube has almost everything. Here is a bit of NASA history-making. I remember this day and what a big deal it was, and now few pay attention to shuttle launches. NASA plans at least 13 more missions to the space station before retiring the shuttle fleet in 2010. A mission in September 2008 is planned to repair the aging Hubble Space Telescope.

Click this link for the NASA SHUTTLE webpages where you can find information and history about the Space Shuttle program and the future plans for the shuttle program and future space travel.

Eclipsed Earth from the Mir space station

Click on image to enlargeCredit: Mir 27 Crew; Copyright: CNES

Explanation: Here is what the Earth looks like during a solar eclipse. The shadow of the Moon can be seen darkening part of Earth. This shadow moved across the Earth at nearly 2000 kilometers per hour. Only observers near the center of the dark circle see a total solar eclipse - others see a partial eclipse where only part of the Sun appears blocked by the Moon. This spectacular picture of the 1999 August 11 solar eclipse was one of the last ever taken from the Mir space station. The two bright spots that appear on the upper left are possibly Jupiter and Saturn, although this has yet to be proven. Mir was deorbited in a controlled re-entry in 2001.

17-year cicadas arrive in Illinois once again -- *shiver*!

I feel sorry for 17-year-cicadas and the way they finally come above ground after waiting such a long, long time only to only lay eggs and die. Then the offspring will hatch and will crawl back underground and wait to emerge to die in another 17 years only to lay eggs and die. And some human think their lives are pointless!

How did the dinosaurs die?

Here is an interesting article which contains recent speculations about the demise of these mighty beasts that once ruled the Earth millions of years ago. If scientists can figure out how they died, would it would it be a good thing, or a bad thing? Do we want to know about something we can do absolutely nothing about? Seems like evidence is leaning toward volcanic eruption rather than drowning in water as some scientists have speculated. There is nothing we can do to stop a volcano from erupting.

From LiveScience.com

Dinosaurs Died Agnonizing Deaths

Fossilized dinosaurs often have wide-open mouths, heads thrown back and tails that curve toward the head. Paleontologists have long assumed the dinosaurs died in water and the currents drifted the bones into that position, or that rigor mortis or drying muscles, tendons and ligaments contorted the limbs.

"I'm reading this in the literature and thinking, 'This doesn't make any sense to me as a veterinarian,'" said Cynthia Marshall Faux, a veterinarian-turned-paleontologist at the Museum of the Rockies.

Faux and a colleague say brain damage and asphyxiation are the more likely culprits.

A classic example of the posture, which has puzzled paleontologists for ages, is the 150-million-year-old Archaeopteryx, the first-known example of a feathered dinosaur and the proposed link between dinosaurs and present-day birds.

"Virtually all articulated specimens of Archaeopteryx are in this posture, exhibiting a classic pose of head thrown back, jaws open, back and tail reflexed backward and limbs contracted," said Kevin Padian, professor of integrative biology and curator in the Museum of Paleontology at the University of California, Berkeley. He Faux (pronounced "Fox") published their findings this week in the journal Paleobiology.

Some animals found in this posture may have suffocated in ash during a volcanic eruption, consistent with the fact that many fossils are found in ash deposits, Faux and Padian said. But many other possibilities exist, including disease, brain trauma, severe bleeding, thiamine deficiency or poisoning.

"This puts a whole new light on the mode of death of these animals, and interpretation of the places they died in," Padian said. "This explanation gives us clues to interpreting a great many fossil horizons we didn't understand before and tells us something dinosaurs experienced while dying, not after dying."

Also, because the posture has been seen only in dinosaurs, pterosaurs and mammals, which are known or suspected to have had high metabolic rates, it appears to be a good indicator that the animal was warm blooded, as other research has suggested. Animals with lower metabolic rates, such as crocodiles and lizards, use less oxygen and so might have been less traumatically affected by hypoxia during death throes, Padian said.

Padian acknowledged that many dinosaur fossils show signs that the animal died in water and the current tugged the body into an arched position, but currents cannot explain all the characteristics of an opisthotonic pose.

Clarifying the Christian symbol "X"

I was an art major for a couple of years and learned much about religious symbolism in art in my art history classes, and I also read about them again in my World Religion, and Bible as Literature classes at the university, but I first learned about Christian religious symbols way back when I was a young Christian in Sunday School class. Maybe it's because of the college education and review that I remember these things, but it seems odd that I, who am no longer a Christian am more interested in knowing these things more than the people who profess to be of that faith.

I am surprised at how many Christians do not know much about the history of their own religion, and are angry when atheists and even other Christians use ancient religious symbols for Christ and Christianity. Oftentimes people write "Xian" for "Christian", "Xianity" for "Christianity", and "Xmas" for "Christmas", for example. Those who do not understand this symbolism quickly take offense that "Christ" is being left out somehow, when in fact, these words all contain the same meaning, just a quicker and shorter way of writing it.

Almost the entire Old Testament was written in Hebrew during the thousand years of its composition. But a few chapters in the prophecies of Ezra and Daniel and one verse in Jeremiah were written in a language called Aramaic. The New Testament, however, was written in Greek. This seems strange, since you might think it would be either Hebrew or Aramaic. However, Greek was the language of scholarship during the years of the composition of the New Testament from 50 to 100 AD. No one at that time had a problem with the name of Christ being represented with the Greek symbol "X".

In addition to written language of religious texts, Wikipedia tells us that Christian symbolism is also used to represent central concepts of the Christian faith, either as a reminder of those concepts or as a way of spiritually connecting with the underlying concept or act.

So, for all those who complain about how "sacreligious" those of us who sometimes use the terms "Xianity" or "Xian" in our dialogue, here is an explanation for you:

"What does the abbreviation 'xian' mean? Is it an insult?"

When writing the name "Christ", it is quite common to abbreviate it to X or x, representing the first letter (chi) of the Greek XPICTOC khristos. For example, "xmas" is a common abbreviation of "Christmas". "Xian" just means "Christian".

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the use of the abbreviation "xian" or "xtian" for "Christian" dates back at least as far as 1634. Before that, it was more usual to take the first two letters of XPICTOC, and write "xpian" for "Christian". Priests would record Christenings using the shorthand "xpen" or "xpn".

So no, it's not an insult.

What kind of message does this send?

I usually don't pay attention to sleazy Hollywood stories, but this one really burns me up as it does many other people. Calls all across the country came pouring in to protest the release of Paris Hilton after serving only three days of her already shortened jail sentence because of a "medical problem." Any common person serving jail time would be carted off to the prison infirmary instead of being sent home to serve out the remainder of their sentence sleeping in their nice cushy bed.

Some in the news media are publishing articles asking what kind of message this sends to young people about the consequences for drinking and driving? That if you have enough money to pay for crafty lawyers and maybe some extra little "gifts" for friends in high places you can do pretty much whatever you want without being punished for it?

Here is a commentary from MSNBC contributor Michael Ventre, Surprise! Hot, young celeb gets her way -- Paris' early release sets horrible precedent for future celebrity violators by

UPDATE: THE JUDGE WHO PASSED SENTENCE IS NOW PISSED and has ordered her back in court.

Back to jail for Miss Prissy Pants? Will justice prevail or will she continue to get her way?

UPDATE #2 Link
Ok, now maybe the media will shut up for awhile now about this.
She should have just served her 23 days in jail like a big girl. Paris Hilton was in tears as the judge ordered her back to jail ordered her returned to jail to serve out her entire 45-day sentence.

Ok...whatever happens, I am done devoting blogspace to Hollywood cry-baby bimbos.

Thoughts on hell

One concept I couldn't ever quite accept even during my years as a Christian was that of a terrible place called Hell where even very good and kind people would be sent along with unrepentent criminals and murderers for simply not believing in an invisible god, or for not believing in the correct form of Christianity. (But, illogically they believe that murderers who say the magic words at the end of their lives will go up to Jesus when they die.)

Fundamentalist Christians and Christian extremists believe that non-believers, and also those Christians who do not take the concept of Hell literally are also going there when they die. So, even if I were to go back to my Presbyterian-type faith, I would still be going to Hell according to the beliefs of evangelicals and fundies because I would still not be a "True Christian" (funny that the Catholics believe that Baptists, Pentecostal, etc are going to Hell and all 2500 sects of Christianity could debate the Hell concept for a thousand years and would not come to an agreement).

If a person lives a good life, doesn't kill, murder, steal...is kind to his neighbors, friends, animals. If a person is forgiving, loving and cares for others, is compassionate, helpful, and obeys the law, it is ludicrous to believe that person is still deserving of some kind of eternal torment, especially when this god is supposedly a "just" god, and also when this god is not making his/her/its existence obviously apparent. Here is an excerpt from ex-minister, Dan Barker's essay For Goodness Sake

Theology has given us hell.

The threat of damnation is designed to be an incentive to right action; but this is a phony morality. Humanists think we should do good for goodness' sake, not for the selfish prospect of reaping individual rewards or avoiding punishment. Any ideology that makes its point by threatening violence is morally bankrupt. (Hitler's ovens, at least, were relatively quick. The torment Jesus promised is a "fire that shall never be quenched.") Anyone who believes in hell is at heart not moral at all.

If the only way you can be forced to be kind to others is by the threat of hell, that shows how little you think of yourself. If the only way you can be motivated to be kind to others is by the promise of heaven, that shows how little you think of others.

Most atheists will say, "Be good, for goodness' sake!"

---

Dan Barker, a former evangelical minister, is a staff member of the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

For anyone misled to believe that 'the missing link' has never been found...

I think those who are still harping about the "missing link" need to get up to date on their anthropology and archaeology. While more information than one could ever read on the subject can be found on the internet, the best place to really learn, however, is to take accredited courses on these subjects at a college or university, or visit your local library. And stay away from those creationist books...they are NOT scientific sources:


From Wikipedia: A transitional fossil or transitional form is the fossilized remains of a life form that illustrates an evolutionary transition. It can be identified by having certain primitive (plesiomorphic) traits in comparison with its more derived relatives, such as defined in the study of cladistics. "The Missing Link" is a popular term used for transitional forms.

A popular term to designate transitional forms with is "the missing link". The term is especially used in the regular media, but inaccurate and confusing. This is partly because it implies that there was a single link missing to complete the picture, which now has been discovered. In reality, the continuing discovery of more and more transitional fossils is further adding to our knowledge of evolutionary transitions. The term probably arose in the 19th century where the awaited discovery of a "missing link" between humans and so-called "lower" animals was considered to be the final proof of evolution. The Australopithecus afarensis fossil (more commonly known as "Lucy") is seen as a key transitional fossil.

This is an incomplete list, which may never be able to satisfy certain standards for completeness. Revisions and sourced additions are welcome.

This is a very tentative list of vertebrate transitional fossils (fossil remains of a creature that exhibits primitive traits in comparison with more derived life-forms to which it is related). An ideal list would only recursively include 'true' transitionals, i.e. those forms morphologically similar to the ancestors of the monophyletic group containing the derived relative, and not intermediate forms. See the article on transitional fossils for an explanation of the difference with intermediate forms. Since all species are supposed to be in transition due to natural selection, the very term "transitional fossil" is essentially a misconception. But the fossils listed represent significant steps in the evolution of major features in various vertebrate lines, and therefore fit the common usage of the phrase.

• Fish to Amphibians
  • Tiktaalik roseae
  • Osteolepis
  • Eusthenopteron
  • Panderichthys
  • Elginerpeton
  • Obruchevichthys
  • Hynerpeton
  • Tulerpeton
  • Acanthostega
  • Ichthyostega
  • Pederpes finneyae
  • Eryops

• Amphibians to Amniotes (early reptiles)
  • Proterogyrinus
  • Limnoscelis
  • Tseajaia
  • Solenodonsaurus
  • Hylonomus
  • Paleothyris

• Synapsid (mammal-like "reptiles") to mammals
  • Protoclepsydrops
  • Clepsydrops
  • Dimetrodon
  • Procynosuchus
  • Thrinaxodon
  • Yanoconodon

• Diapsid reptiles to birds
  • Yixianosaurus
  • Pedopenna
  • Archeopteryx
  • Changchengornis
  • Confuciusornis
  • Ichthyornis

• Evolution of whales
  • Pakicetus
  • Ambulocetus
  • Kutchicetus
  • Artiocetus
  • Dorudon
  • Basilosaurus
  • Eurhinodelphis
  • Mammalodon

• Evolution of the horse
  • Hyracotherium
  • Mesohippus
  • Parahippus
  • Merychippus
  • Pliohippus
  • Equus

• Non-human apes to modern humans
  • Pierolapithecus catalaunicus
  • Ardipithecus
  • Australopithecus
  • Homo rudolfensis
  • Homo habilis
  • Homo erectus

List of fossil sites

This speaks for itself.

Virgin Births

I hope Beep! Beep! It's Me doesn't mind that I "borrowed" this ;)
Nice work, beep.

Beep Beep It's Me writes: "Augustus came from a miraculous conception by the divine and human conjunction of the God Apollo and Atia. How does the historian respond to that story? Are there any who take it literally? That divergence raises an ethical problem for me. Either all such divine conceptions, from Alexander to Augustus and from the Christ to the Buddha, should be accepted literally and miraculously or all of them should be accepted metaphorically and theologically. It is not morally acceptable to say, our story is truth but yours is myth; ours is history but yours is a lie. It is even less morally acceptable to say that indirectly and covertly by manufacturing defensive or protective strategies that apply only to one's own story." - John Crosssan, The Birth of Christianity, 1998, pg 28 - 29.

we are very small

Wily Coyote - Trickster god of Native American mythology

Native American myths are amongst my favorite stories. Native Americans have such a sense of humor and it comes through in so many areas of their life. Like most ancient mythologies, the stories were spread via oral tradition and passed on from generation to generation, eventually written down to preserve for centuries to come. The stories of Coyote that are used to explain many of the things that ancient folks didn't understand are quite amusing. Here is a funny summary about Coyote from God Checker.com. If you have a chance, stop by God Checker where you will find thousands of gods to read about who people really did worship (some for thousands of years) and many that people in today's world still believe in.

COYOTE: The wily, tricky, sneaky, pesky, cheaty God of the Wild West. He's the ubiquitous Trickster God and Cultural Hero of Native American mythology, the original Marx Brother and thorn in RAVEN's side.

Responsible for many things, including the Milky Way (see BLACK-GOD) and the diversity of mankind (see HUMAN-MAKER), there are more stories about him than stars in the sky. He ought to have his own website.

For example, did you hear the one about the Spying Moon? It seems that someone had pinched the moon, and COYOTE offered to stand in as replacement. Everyone agreed that he made a fine moon, but from his elevated position COYOTE could see everything that was going on.

Being of an irritating disposition, he couldn't resist blowing the whistle on friends and enemies alike. "Hey, look what BADGER is doing behind his tepee!" Pretty soon everyone was sick of his snooping and voted him out of the sky.

But nothing can keep COYOTE down for long. Being a boastful old show-off, he loves to impress the girls by juggling his eyeballs. One day he threw one so high it got stuck in the sky and became the star Arcturus. So even now he's keeping an eye on us all. See also BADGER, CHINIGCHINICH, RAVEN.

Fear, Faith and Reason

"Religion is based, I think, primarily and mainly upon fear. It is partly the terror of the unknown and partly, as I have said, the wish to feel that you have a kind of elder brother who will stand by you in all your troubles and disputes. Fear is the basis of the whole thing -- fear of the mysterious, fear of defeat, fear of death. Fear is the parent of cruelty, and therefore it is no wonder if cruelty and religion have gone hand in hand. It is because fear is at the basis of those two things. In this world we can now begin a little to understand things, and a little to master them by help of science, which has forced its way step by step against the Christian religion, against the churches, and against the opposition of all the old precepts. Science can help us to get over this craven fear in which mankind has lived for so many generations. Science can teach us, and I think our own hearts can teach us, no longer to look around for imaginary supports, no longer to invent allies in the sky, but rather to look to our own efforts here below to make this world a better place to live in, instead of the sort of place that the churches in all these centuries have made it."

Bertrand Russell - 1927

Weekend cartoons

Click on image to enlarge

Unfortunately, this is not much of an exaggeration . . .